R. Ellis Frazier, Director, Producer, CEO at BADHOUSE Studios: The face of it is a million dollars (meaning your collateral), I’ll give you $800,000. Some people would say I’ll give you $500,000. Others will say I really like it. I want you to make it a little bit bigger, I’ll give you 1.2 million.
Film Courage: How does the money come together for one of your projects?
Frazier: In a couple different ways. Normally someone will send the script out. We have a network of sales agents and distributors and as long as we have an actor on the film that they like and that they can sell, they’ll give us a minimum guarantee and then we have places that we can go take that minimum guarantee and cash flow it. Depending on who that comes from, we can get between 80 percent and 120 percent of the face of the minimum guarantee. The thing about filming in Mexico what happens normally (I’ll back up just a little bit) is that normally that MG [minimum guarantee] out will not be enough, that’s why people go to the rebate states because then they can go get about another 30 percent or so which will complete their budget. Maybe they have a little bit of cash or an investor (an equity investor). Generally speaking we can keep our budgets low enough to work just with what we have with the minimum guarantee which is why we’re kind of unique in that way, what they give us with the minimum guarantee. We make the movie with that whether it’s 80 percent or 120 percent. Sometimes there’s a little bit of money in there with gap money but generally that’s the way it works. Sometimes you have people that just have money and they come down and want to make a movie. The rich uncle program isn’t really one to build your career on in my opinion. You want to have the right connections and the know-how to speak the language of those distributors and financiers…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
R. Ellis Frazier is a producer and director, known for Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright (2010), The Line (2009) and Misfire (2014) and many more. Frazier is the CEO of Badhouse Studios Mexico.
CONNECT WITH R. ELLIS FRAZIER
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